Stop Dragon My Heart Around

Back in my high school days, I dabbled in that nerdy fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. I played off and on for a couple of years with a little gang of friends and associates. Some were close friends, some were acquaintances, and some were just weirdos who I tolerated. It was a confusing time for me. I was drifting between the cool kids and the nerdo's, alternating between the party scene and the sci-fi/fantasy crowd. It was a tough balancing act, but that's how I managed for several years, never quite finding my place.

A couple of my pewter figurines, one a very

Gandalf-like fellow, and the other an impressive dragon

As teenage life advanced, I found that the two scenes sort of intertwined sometimes. My geek squad got a little "cooler", and we'd drink while slaying dragons and saving damsels in distress. Now and then, a cool Dungeon Master (you've really got to understand the game to know what I'm talking about now) would allow us, the participants in his campaign, to have some free-form fun. Like there would be a halt in whatever boring or crisis situation we'd be facing, and suddenly we'd be thrust into a free-for-all. Kill everyone possible and reap the rewards: huge treasure and strength and magical power, whatever was available. Or a supernatural game show host called Uncle Stupid (courtesy of one particular DM we had) would appear and create highly improbable and silly scenarios for us players. Maybe a bizarre and dangerous puzzle to solve or some sort of charades we'd have to act out. A bit of alcohol always added to the fun. 

I had a character that survived many campaigns, a devious thief, whose name I cannot for the life of me recall. I even had a little metal figurine of that thief, and I know I've still got it around here somewhere, but can't locate it just now. Once I've found it, I'll post a photo. I was quite proud of my thief's dexterity, cunning, and stealth... and longevity. It really meant something to be able to overcome adversity among powerful wizards, ruthless warriors, and savage monsters. I believe my character met his end once or twice along the way, but a sympathetic wizard resurrected me from the dead to carry on with my merry band of misfits. 

Dungeons and Dragons, in case you aren't aware, is a game of chance, reason, ingenuity, and resourcefulness. Played in the "old school" fashion, with dice and grid paper (for mapping progress), the game could be a somewhat tactile experience. Sometimes, but not always, tokens or figurines representing the characters are used on a map or floor plan to more accurately determine how a situation will play out. Like a battle in close quarters. Or a search of a booby-trapped chamber. 

The roll of the dice decides what happens next. "I approach the dais and lift the crystal off the pedestal". Yeah, right. It's not always that easy. Hidden behind his screen, Dungeon Master rolls the bones to see if you can even get that close to the treasure Maybe it'll be a piece of cake, but it could also go the other way. A noxious gas might be triggered when you place a foot on the step, and you'd be left in a helpless, drugged state. Or worse, a blood-thirsty guardian would appear to do battle. 

Oh, those dice. From the traditional six-sided cubes to the hefty twenty-sided pieces, D&D dice are a necessity for gamers. The Dungeon Master especially must be well-equipped with an arsenal of dice. Even though I never aspired to run a campaign as DM, I felt it was a good idea to build up a little set of dice for my own purposes. It simply streamlined the game, speeding things up where one might otherwise have to borrow dice from the DM or another player. Plus some of those dice looked pretty darned cool. To start off, someone gave me a few of their old dice, but then I bought several brightly coloured, multi-sided rollers. There were four, six, eight, ten, twelve, and twenty-sided dice in my collection, which I toted along to sessions in my royal blue cloth Crown Royal bag with the gold drawstrings. 

I used to have a couple of the D&D books, the essential Player's Handbook and the nice-to-have Monster Manual. Those were handy while battling and thieving in fantasy worlds, but decades later, certain that I'd never play the game again, I sold them off. I kept the dice... for old time's sake, I guess. I doubt I'll ever need to use a 20-sided die again, but hey, it's cool to look at now and then. 

Whenever I watch a Lord of the Rings movie, or come across my old Tolkien books, I am reminded of my younger days playing the game that started the whole role-playing craze. The past-time is massive now, and has gone into board game and card formats, and video gaming, both on home systems and online. All have their place, but I suppose I'll always look back fondly on my afternoons, evenings, and even all-nighters... butchering trolls and orcs, and sneaking about swiping jewels and gold from unsuspecting fools the old-fashioned way, ha ha!

Roll the bones....